The Mystery of the Lost Dauphin (Louis XVII)

The interior of the King's cabinet contrasted strikingly with the apartment we have just left. Here we find a veritable museum arranged by an intelligent hand which has collecte...

Were the superintendent's office compared with the monarch's sanctum, the former would appear to be more ostentatious, but on deliberately examining the latter, much that was ad...

Naundorff, seated near the sofa where René rested, had become pensive. René's eyes were fastened querulously upon him. The young man scarcely knew what to say, yet his good bree...

In a human existence there may be a culminating moment,--a moment in which ambitions are realized and reality adapts itself to the dreamed-of ideal. The maneuvers of a subterran...

A few minutes later, the door opened to admit the imposing figure of the octogenarian, Martin. The king graciously motioned him to advance. He approached diffidently, a pale ray...

The office of the Superintendent of Police, Baron Lecazes, was an apartment severely sumptuous and furnished in the purest Imperialistic style. The power of the great Napoleon,...

René, on feeling stronger, resolved to read the manuscript which awakened his interest more and more deeply. The enigma of Naundorff's obscure life, the cause of the attack in t...

Thérèse, do you remember how we were taken to the Assembly, there to pass the day within a grated tribunal and led thence to prison? How from that prison we were afterwards tran...

That evening at the customary hour for lighting the lamps in the various apartments of the royal palace, the ladies in waiting to Madame the Duchess were surprised to see her ac...

"Why," she asked, "does the King desire that; I should be so minutely informed? Why not settle the matter in those departments wherein the governmental thunderbolts are forged,...

The man to whom those significant words A were addressed, and whom the baron called Volpetti, appeared to have just arrived after a long journey. Much dust whitened his clothes,...

An hour later, Baby sat in Amélie's lap. She had given him milk and soup and he was covering her face with kisses,--this child whom she loved more than ever since renouncing for...

Amélie sprang back, preparing for the struggle which the strength of the bridegroom would have rendered futile. The enameled clock rang out the hour of seven. The mythologically...

In the sitting-room of a small inn whose sign reads "Hotel d'Orleans" sat the five persons whom the Polipheme brought to France. Amélie, no longer a fresh radiant girl, and in d...

Two days later a tumultuous carnival animated Paris. Crowds jostled each other in the streets and gazed upon the procession of the Bull crowned with flowers and the triumphal ca...

On reaching the appointed place, the Duchess fell upon a garden seat, seemingly very tired. Taking a lace handkerchief from the reticule which hung at her wrist, she wiped the p...

Telling himself that he was reprehensively weak in failing to resist his passion, René gazed out upon the river. He reflected that its dark surface had closed over many human so...

The Marquis remained at the grating, hoping that Amélie would return. When night closed in and she showed no signs of relenting, he wandered aimlessly through the streets, walki...

The apartments of the royal palace which we now enter are those farthest removed from the stir and distractions of the court. The perennial austerity of their august occupant se...

At the foot of a mountain-chain which crosses Brittany, continues through Normandy and terminates in Cherbourg, stands the castle of Picmort. It pertains to the de Brezé patrimo...

Soliviac nimbly leaped to the wharf from a skiff and held out his hands to Louis Pierre and Giacinto. He uncovered respectfully to Naundorff and Amélie and caressed Baby Dick's...

In the midst of her anxiety, a new trouble broke upon her,--the transformation taking place in her guardian, Jean. Not that the Breton permitted himself liberties; the deference...

Imprisonment could not subdue her. She would have died rather than yield. Her father's fate, her lover's fate and the fate of dear little Dick, weighed each moment more heavily...

Amélie was forced to resign herself patiently to await the news. Life tends to normalize itself, whatever the given conditions, and she wisely accommodated herself to the inevit...

Those to whom the gardens and parks of Versailles are not familiar can form no idea of the manner in which aristocratic dignity imparts elegance to rural, sites. The impression...

In the long colloquy which Amélie and her father held with their unexpected guest, they planned a voyage to France which should be a tentative effort to master the paths and pla...

Naundorff and Amélie, from the Polipheme's deck, watched the men carrying Volpetti to the sloop. They trembled and clasped hands. The vessel was anchored in deep water and the w...

An hour later Naundorff sat surrounded by the three Carbonari, to whom he had related his entire history. Pity and amazement were upon their faces; Louis Pierre seemed stirred o...

This cry always throws crew and passengers into wild excitement, all of whom now appeared as if by magic on deck. The fog was beginning to break but the water still dashed madly...

In a London quarter near the Thames, little frequented by day and almost deserted by night, there is a house with a small garden facing an extensive park from whose centre majes...

"I do not consider," remarked the girl, "that René has reason to complain of my compliance with his instructions. I have obeyed him blindly, and that is not so easy a thing for...

I was placed in the home of a lady, who was the widow of a Swiss officer who had been beheaded on the memorable tenth of August. In her country place I was screened from curious...

the admiring eyes of the guests seated in the dingy dining hall, as she deposited on the tables bottles of beer and dishes of smoked salmon stewed with potatoes. One of the youn...

Kate was selecting chambers for the newly arrived. Giacinto, continuing the rude gallantry he had begun at the table, followed her from room to room, whispering love speeches an...

"Am I reading a romance or a sincere autobiography? Before going further, I should look at the documents within the box. I must not espouse this man's cause while a shadow of do...

I regained consciousness upon a real bed. Some people were near me. My jailer, with a softened expression, was handing me a cup of soup. I closed my eyes and realized that some...

As Naundorff left the garden, a man, hidden amid the shrubbery advanced cautiously and reached the little gate holding there a short conversation with one of the spies, La Grive.

"It means good luck to us, for within another quarter of an hour she will be within our reach. Then we may send her a salute. There is no necessity of announcing our intentions...

A more circumspect man than René would have retired from the keyhole after ascertaining this information, but he was transported into remaining. Just then Soliviac entered by th...

Naundorff and Amélie followed de Brezé toward the stairway and, in so doing, passed the two Carbonari, who, pretending absorption in their ale and salmon, did not raise their eyes.

Marie's death brought me such sorrow that another great misfortune was necessary to rouse me from my apathy and desolation. During Napoleon's invasion of Italy our villa was sac...

What was this new mystery? Why should this man give me his name, for I was forced to retain it? When we reached Weimar, my benefactor disappeared. The freedom I breathed inebria...

"O that I might live among men, daring to breathe! That I might no longer be hunted down as a criminal. Let me cast away the fatal name and obliterate the race forever. Montmori...

I lived in darkness for two weeks. Then the inflammation began to subside and a ray of light penetrated my eyes and heart and I wept in gratitude for the joy of looking upon the...

It has been said that our family were the martyrs of the Revolution. Our parents suffered but they had previously known happiness. But I? What earthly fruit of good had passed m...

The night grew darker, and the mist denser. At half past eleven, Volpetti, followed by Brosseur, took the road leading to the wharf, the latter carrying the traveling bags and o...

About this time my companion and reputed sister died. Poor woman! She was no grande dame, not even a spotless matron. In her past there had been hours of anguish, despair and sh...

Here René raised his head and realized that his chamber was full of smoke. The atmosphere was growing dense, insufferable. The mirror over the mantel broke into pieces with a sh...

Opposite the Dover wharf was an inn bearing the sign: The Red Fish. The frequenters of this inn were usually sailors, wharf-hands, etc.... Sometimes passengers from a recently a...